


The Secret Garden

by thatsnotmyname32



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Canon Compliant, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Not Canon Compliant, Time Travel, other tags too, secret gardens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24761158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsnotmyname32/pseuds/thatsnotmyname32
Summary: The garden was their special place, but soon enough, they learned that there's more their Secret Garden than they realised. Time travel, MinaSaku friendship, eventual pairing. T rated.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Namikaze Minato, Haruno Sakura/Namikaze Minato, Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	The Secret Garden

Sniffling, she wiped her eyes with her clenched fists, not really paying attention to where she was going. Today had been going so well, but then she'd run into Ami, Kasumi, and Tomoni, and the three of them had pushed her around for a while, until some adults had come by. They'd made a run for it, lest they get into trouble, and Sakura had been left to finally head home.

The only problem now was… she was lost. She'd never been to this part of the village before, and she was wandering blindly. Looking around, she tried to find something, _anything_ , that was familiar, but couldn't see a single thing that was. Nervously she kept going, hoping to eventually find something familiar to her.

That soon happened, and it was with relief that she looked up to see a large, abandoned house that she recognised. Sure, it was from a different angle, but it was a start, at least. As she walked past the house toward the much brighter, and definitely familiar street beyond it, something caught her eye, and she stopped, turning to the house to see a hole in the fence.

Sakura glanced over toward the road she knew, then back at the fence. It was probably only the fact that she now knew where she was that caused her to make the decision, but a moment later, she was squeezing through the fence, curiosity pulling her along. There was a lot of overgrown plants, and probably weeds too, that tried to impede her, but eventually, she stepped out into a rather beautiful, if overgrown, garden.

Eyes wide, she took in the sight of so many different flowers and other plants. She'd only recently started at the Academy, but already kunoichi classes were impressing the importance of flowers upon her. A lot of the flowers here, she didn't recognise yet, but there were some that had already been covered in class. Like the camellias, roses, and hydrangeas. She stepped forward, eyes wide and hands clasped behind her back as she took in the sight of the garden.

The sound of rustling startled her, and she turned, frightened that she was about to get in trouble for trespassing (tou-san had given her a lecture on it one day, after he'd been caught out accidentally trespassing himself). But a moment later, instead of a frowning adult to cart her off the premises and back to her parents, a blond boy stumbled into the garden. He looked a little like that weird kid, Naruto, though Sakura could tell it wasn't him.

"Woah," the boy breathed, not having seen her yet, and Sakura wondered if she could sneak away before he did, but the second she thought that, he saw her. "Oh, hello. I didn't realise anyone else was here."

He walked over to her, and Sakura felt her innate shyness overcome her, and she _really_ wanted to just run and hide. "This garden is amazing," he said. "Do you live here?"

Sakura shook her head. "N-no," she stuttered. "I w-was just curious…"

"Oh! Me too," the boy said, smiling a toothy grin. "I was told this place was haunted, but I don't believe in ghosts, and I guess I just wanted to prove it. Say, I've never seen you around before. What's your name? Mine's Minato. Do you go to the Academy too?"

Sakura nodded, and managed to blurt out, "I'm Sakura!"

"Nice to meet you, Sakura-chan," he said. "Who's your sensei? Mine's Yoshiro-sensei. He's kinda annoying, but I suppose he knows what he's talking about. Kenta-kun tried to prank him the other day, and we _all_ got punished! So, who did you say your sensei was?"

"U-um, S-Suzume-sensei," Sakura said, and the boy cocked his head.

"Hm, I don't think I know her," he said, but then he shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Say, Sakura-chan, what's your favourite thing in class?"

The two sat on a bench and talked awhile about classes and their friends, then Sakura noticed that the sky was getting dark. She stood and said, "I've got to go! Kaa-chan and tou-san will be wondering where I am."

"I should probably get going too," Minato said, also glancing up at the sky. "The matron at the orphanage will be mad if I get back too late."

"Y-you're an orphan?" Sakura asked, and Minato nodded.

"But it's okay!" he said. "The matron looks after us all well enough, and I have some good friends there, and in the Academy. And… I hope we can be friends too, Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded eagerly, a small smile on her face. "That would be great, Minato-kun," she said, daringly reaching out to hug him before rushing off to where she'd entered the garden.

"Maybe I'll see you around at the Academy!" Minato called, even as Sakura slipped through the fence and back onto the street.

OoOoO

Sakura looked everywhere for Minato at the Academy, but the only boy she saw about her age with blond hair was Naruto. Disappointed, she wondered if he'd lied to her, or maybe he was in a higher class? Either way, she moped about it for quite a while, until she made friends with Ino in Kunoichi classes. Ino chased away her bullies, told her she was pretty, and gave her a red ribbon for her hair.

Suffice to say, Sakura _adored_ Ino.

It was weeks before she finally did see Minato again, and that was only because she went back to the garden. Sakura was headed home after class, when she passed the old house. She only hesitated briefly before she stepped through the fence, and found Minato there, cleaning up the garden. He turned at her approach and gave her a sunny smile.

"Sakura-chan!" he greeted. "I was wondering if I'd see you again."

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Minato wiped some sweat from his forehead, turning to face her fully. "Well, after we met here, I decided I wanted to fix up the garden," he told her. "I've been here almost every day for the last few weeks."

Eyes wide, Sakura looked around to see what he'd done. He'd cleaned up a lot of the mess, removing weeds and getting rid of rubbish. The garden looked nicer, though it still required a lot of work. A warm feeling welled in her, and she smiled, then turned to him.

"Can I help?" she asked.

Nodding, Minato said, "Of course! Most of the heavy stuff's done though, it's mostly gardening from here on out."

He handed her a garden trowel, and the two got stuck into weeding, straightening plants, and in some cases, re-potting them entirely. It was a big task, and it took many more weeks for them to have the garden looking anywhere near what it might have been before it fell into neglect, but they both turned up every afternoon after classes let out (she _still_ hadn't seen him there, though she'd briefly met his sensei) and soon enough, all that they were able to do was done.

"I think we did pretty good," Minato said, and Sakura nodded in agreement.

"It's beautiful," she agreed, sitting back on the bench (their bench, now). "Everything looks… happier, I guess."

"Especially since you started helping out," he told her, nudging her with his elbow. "You've got a magic touch with plants, Sakura-chan."

Sakura blushed appropriately, then stood. "I've got to get back home now," she said. "I've still got a ton of homework to do."

Minato nodded. "I think I'll stay a bit longer," he said, then asked a little uncertainly, "Are… are you still going to come by, even though we've finished?"

"Of course I will, silly!" she told him. "This is our garden, after all."

"Our _secret_ garden," he grinned at her, and she giggled.

"Bye, Minato-kun!" Sakura called as she left, squeezing through the fence and on the way home.


End file.
